The most helpful favourable review

The most helpful critical review

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 starsGood easy read, full of good advice
The book is filled with good advice given in short chapters.This makes it not only easy to read,but one can literally jump to any part of the book.

The context offered is from architects with real experience.

Published on Sept. 19 2009 by Sujit Jagdev

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 starsGood list of reminders, but won't teach you the details
If your looking for something that's going to teach you what a software architect needs to know, and you're just stepping into that role, this book isn't going to show you the nitty-gritty details of what you need. For that I would recommend something like Software Architecture in Practice. Instead, it's a collection of advice from experienced architects who are trying to...

If your looking for something that's going to teach you what a software architect needs to know, and you're just stepping into that role, this book isn't going to show you the nitty-gritty details of what you need. For that I would recommend something like Software Architecture in Practice. Instead, it's a collection of advice from experienced architects who are trying to summarize some key point into 2 pages.

Interesting reading if you are already in the architect role and want a reminder of those things you should be doing, but you'll need to know the details behind the advice to really make use of it. Worthwhile if that's what you're looking for.

I found this book to be generally a disappointment. If you are looking for any in-depth treatment of any content on software architecture, you won't find it here. To be fair, one could probably guess that from the title and the length of the book.

The format of the book is such that each entry takes up 2 pages. However, most entries only need close to 1 page, so much of the book is white space. On the plus side, it's very small and light to take with you on the bus.

If you like reading blog entries that are mostly opinion pieces about the topics around software architecture (including personal communication, teamwork, business challenges, etc.), this might be a really good fit for you. I found that too much of the content is simply common sense.

Of course, our industry isn't the best at always applying common sense, so perhaps some people might find this useful as a gift to their coworkers. I would choose to apply my personal time and money elsewhere.